Undying Innocence
by Kit Chan76
Summary: COMPLETE When Yahiko is kidnapped and taken to the far reaches of Japan, what can the Kenshingumi do? Will they arrive before Yahiko is killed? Or will the torture be enough to lure the Battousai in..?
1. Default Chapter

Well, I've had a ton of trouble uploading this. It's all here--this little one shot, I hope you like it.  
  
A.N:To be perfectly honest, this was written and uploaded more for my own enjoyment, so I'm not going to be offended if nobody reviews, though plz do if you'd like. Otherwise, enjoy the fic...  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Kenshin, never will.  
  
Warning:This is pretty intense at some parts, I just thought I'd chuck out a warning at you all.  
  
It was a cold day in the early spring, the snow had just begun to melt from the ground. But despite the conditions, the Kamiya dojo seemed to be bustling with activity. Kenshin was sitting on the front step, washing the laundry while Ayame and Suzume played with his fiery hair, placing bits of the laundry soap on top of his head. Kaoru watched this in amusement while behind her, Sanosuke was, for once, running back and forth, cleaning the hardwood deck. Yahiko was the only one not at the dojo that day.   
  
The young samurai was out, once again, at the spot that he'd prepared for himself next to the river maybe a half hour's walk away from the dojo. He'd been practicing his swordsmanship since sunrise that morning without interruption, but that was about to change. He didn't sense that behind him lurked some of Japan's most ruthless and infamous assassins. They had been hired several weeks earlier to capture the boy and take him far into the most desolate region that Japan had to offer. Their goal--to have the Battousai as far away from his allies as possible, ambush him, and kill him.  
  
"Hey, kid!"  
  
Yahiko turned abruptly, holding his bokken out in front of him defensively. He looked around, but couldn't seem to find where the voice was coming from. And before he realized what had happened, he felt himself being shoved to the ground, pressed down into the soft earth without regard. His arms were yanked behind his back and were bound with a cord so tight that it dug deep into his skin, and he was gagged before he could even open his mouth. Yahiko felt himself being lifted from the ground by his wrists, a process so painful that   
  
he thought that his limbs might snap before he was upright, and his feet left the ground. He was hoisted up and over what felt like a shoulder, and the world went black around him. He was being carried off without any trace of   
  
where he'd gone.  
  
* * *  
  
Time had lost all meaning now. There seemed to be no more dark, no more light. There was only the cell, round and cold. The air stunk of urine and sweat, and the only noises that could be heard were those made by the helpless, hopeless boy and the occasional conversation between his guards. They no longer frightened him, at least, he was used to them now and could make out few enough words to speak and tell his guards when and if he needed anything. But that was of little use to him at most times.   
  
But Yahiko was soon torn from his shell when a bright light showed through the door as it creaked slowly open. The young samurai looked away--he had to. His eyes had grown so accustomed to the dark that even the tiniest bit of light seemed unbearably painful. The guard that stood at the door chuckled to his partner, who stood next to him. "Look at that, he averts his eyes now!" He exclaimed with mock pleasure.  
  
Yahiko cringed with fear. He knew that if he spoke wrongly that he would be beaten in the same cruel way that he'd been so many times before. So many times that he lost count.  
  
"That's what a week in confinement will do to a cocky brat like you!"  
  
"Let me go--" Yahiko began to plead quietly. "Please... I haven't--"  
  
His words were interrupted with a sharp kick to his bare chest. "We'll be taking you to the mess hall where we can decide what we're going to do with you until Battousai arrives."  
  
"No! I don't want to!"  
  
The guard yanked Yahiko up by his wrists and dragged him from the cell. The boy cringed as he felt his wrists creak under the pressure, his left had snapped several days back. He hung his head as the guards and assassins that passed down the hall stared at him and cursed him. But the mess hall proved much worse. Yahiko was shoved against the wall and was tied up with another thick cord, this time around his neck, where he could clearly see the food. And even though it stunk awfully and looked even worse than Kaoru's food, the boy longed for it in more ways than he'd thought possible.  
  
It wasn't until the guards, assassins, and lords started eating that Yahiko realize that he was in a room that was teeming with huge, rabid looking dogs. And as the guards ate, most of their food fell to the floor, and the dogs would begin fighting angrily for the scraps, growling and snarling at one another as if those few bits of food were the only sustenance that they would get. But Yahiko knew better than that.  
  
"Hey, Aritomo, how bout we feed the brat?"  
  
"Do as you want, but make sure that we can still have fun with him... And make sure he's presentable for the captain."  
  
The guard stood and approached Yahiko with a malevolent expression smeared on his face. He held a small brown bowl in his hand, and once he was close enough to the boy to feed him, he knelt and dipped his dirty fingers into the bowl, bringing them out covered in a powdery red substance.  
  
Yahiko pulled back.  
  
"Now I know you're not refusing my food."  
  
His fingers forced their way into Yahiko's mouth, and before he had the chance to react, the boy felt a burning deep in his throat and mouth. The moment the guard removed his fingers, Yahiko screamed in pain. He found it hard to breathe and tried as hard as he could not to swallow as all of the men in the room laughed and cheered at his agony.  
  
"Here, Mr. Samurai, have some of this!"  
  
The guard pushed another foreign object into Yahiko's mouth. But this time it was a bottle, and from it flowed the worst tasting liquor that the boy had ever tasted. The guard laughed as Yahiko tried to pull away, but held him tightly by the hair, tipping the bottle back. Soon all of the liquid was gone and Yahiko was released, lightheaded and nauseous.  
  
"The boy holds his liquor well, doesn't he?"  
  
The others cheered in reply.  
  
"Shall we reward him?"  
  
More cheers.  
  
"Give me that bread we found on him earlier."  
  
One of the guards threw the bag of bread over and onto the floor. Yahiko looked at it and for a moment, his heart leapt to his throat. It was the bread that Kenshin had baked earlier that day that he'd taken for a snack. The guard pulled the half loaf from its place and stuffed it into Yahiko's mouth and watched in amusement as the boy ate greedily. But he didn't know that the bread had been tainted.  
  
"He's going to have a fun night in the master's chambers with his nightmares."  
  
  
  
"Do you think that the Battousai will come? It's been four weeks since we took the boy."  
  
"You're not suggesting that we should let him go, are you?"  
  
The captain stood and shook his head as he walked to the window, peering out into the wasteland that surrounded the huge fortress. "No. We should interrogate him about the Battousai's whereabouts and weaknesses, and then we'll dispose of him."  
  
"But he's only a bo-"  
  
The young captain turned and looked at his elder subordinate. "If all of his hope is gone, then he won't be in his right mind anymore. We'll need what he knows now."  
  
"He's already losing it..."  
  
The captain gave a groan of disgust and sighed as he looked down at the unconscious boy, still lying in the floor where he'd been thrown earlier. "Then we'll keep him as our own. Make sure you know where his loyalties lie, and when he's ours enough he can bring us one of the others. Maybe even Battousai himself."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Take him with you, Tekaro."  
  
"Sir."  
  
Yahiko was dragged by his wrists through the long hallway and was thrown into his cell once again, left temporarily alone with his dreams.  
  
"Get up, boy!"  
  
Yahiko felt a sharp jolt of pain in his side where the steel toed army boot had made contact. He looked up at the guard who now hovered above him, and drew in a slow breath, seeing the knife that he held. And before he knew what was happening, he'd been yanked forward by his hair and had been thrown onto his face, being held onto the ground while the guard cut the cords that held his wrists. His hands were being repositioned behind his back once again, they were tied tighter than the last time, with a new, more uncomfortable cord. He held back a cry as a pain shot up his left arm from his snapped wrist, racking his body in mind numbing pain. But he didn't have the chance to make a noise.  
  
Yahiko was led once again from his tiny cell and into the winding brick hallway, being taken to yet another session of seemingly endless torture and interrogation.  
  
* * *  
  
Sanosuke could not sleep. As of late his dreams had been filled with images of the lost boy that he didn't know he'd become so close to. But that night, the dreams proved much worse than usual, as he found himself surrounded by a pool of dark, fresh blood. In the center of it all he was startled to find Yahiko, laying on his left side as though he was dead.  
  
The fighter for hire slowly approached the boy and knelt down, touching a delicate hand to his shoulder, rousing him from his labored sleep. It was only then that Sano realized the extensiveness of Yahiko's torment.  
  
The poor boy was covered with gashes and cuts, and all over his bare back were marks from what looked like a whip. Blood now stained the young and tender flesh, bruises blossomed all over his tanned body like black, yellow, and purple flowers--enormous and more unsightly than Sanosuke had ever seen before. The boy was a sight that Sanosuke had never beheld, even in the revolution. Most people that he'd seen would have been dead at that point, most gave up after the first few gashes, the first few bruises. But Yahiko was still alive, somehow, bruised, broken, and starved to a point where you could see his tiny bones.  
  
The boy raised his eyes after a long while, his expression was unsure and frightened, as though he didn't quite believe that Sanosuke was even there by his side. He grew even more afraid when he was Sanosuke's expression. The figher had been frightened himself when he saw the lifelessness that was in Yahiko's once bright and vibrant eyes. There was nothing left in him, Sanosuke could see that clearly. The boy had lost almost all hope, all belief that he would be saved. If only Kenshin had found him...  
  
Yahiko stared into Sanosuke's face, seeing only his reaction and not the motive behind it, and he averted his eyes with a grimace, expecting the once tender touch to change. He began to retreat back into himself.  
  
"Yahiko?" Sanosuke called as he replaced his hand on the boy's shoulder, releasing a breath that he wasn't aware that he was holding. He was gentler this time, seeing the entirety of Yahiko's pain. "You don't have to be afraid of me."  
  
Sano felt the boy's frame tremble at the mention of his name. But Yahiko looked up, recognizing the voice as a friend. "S...Sano..."  
  
"Yeah, it's me, kid."  
  
Yahiko's face remained expressionless, but Sanosuke knew that he was confusing an already confused mind. Yahiko opened his mouth, but stopped short, afraid that if he spoke he would be punished. He forced the words. "I'm sleeping... You... You can't be here..."  
  
"I don't understand it either, but I'm here anyway, kid. I'm here for you, okay?"  
  
Yahiko paused and looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "Sano..." He uttered, and for the first time in weeks, he found himself clinging to something, as small as it was, a last emotion that had long been suppressed had surfaced itself. And then he found himself clinging to Sanosuke's arms, crying tears of self-pity and pain as the fighter for hire held him.  
  
Sanosuke woke with a start, images of the fallen boy stuck in his mind. He glanced over at the smaller futon that Yahiko once had occupied and grimaced to himself. With urgency, he pushed himself from the futon and strode from the room, approaching the dining room, where he knew that Kenshin and Kaoru would already be eating breakfast.  
  
"Kenshin, Kaoru..." he began quietly as he took his seat at the table. He looked at Kaoru for a moment and then gave his full attention to Kenshin. "There was another dream, Kenshin."  
  
The rurouni closed his eyes at the news, placing his bowl down on the table. "We've looked everywhere, Sanosuke. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."  
  
"You haven't looked everywhere! I know he's still alive!"  
  
Kaoru looked up sympathetically at Sanosuke, but her expression hardened when he saw how much he meant his words. "Sanosuke...?"  
  
"You haven't checked everywhere! Where would be the most logical place to take him!? Think about it, Kenshin! You are the last person that I thought would have given up on the kid!"  
  
"Where do you want me to go, Sano?"  
  
The figher for hire opened his mouth to speak, but found himself at a loss for words. This sobered him a bit and made him think about what he was going to say. He didn't know where to look exactly, but he had a vague idea. "I think... That their motives were more than just to take Yahiko from us. They wanted to lure you away from Kaoru and me... The footprints at the kidnaping site clearly showed that there were at least a dozen men that took Yahiko away--God only knows how many more there are wherever they took him."  
  
"What's your point, Sanosuke?" Kaoru demanded. She didn't like the topic being brought up at breakfast.  
  
"He's somewhere in the middle of nowhere! That's all I can think of... Why would they lure Kenshin to a city where there are hundreds and thousands of people to back him up? Nobody's gonna let a little kid like Yahiko get taken into a giant city and not help him! They wanted to get you alone!"  
  
Kenshin looked up. There was fact in that statement, he had really only checked in the main Japanese cities in the area and the only desolate places that he'd checked were those familiar to him. He still had to go east--he'd not been that way yet. "We will go east today. Pack enough food for four days. That is all I will take."  
  
* * *  
  
Yahiko was ripped from his peaceful slumber when he woke in the captain's quarters next to one of the more dangerous looking dogs from the mess hall. It had bumped his bad wrist, sending a jolt of pain through his arm. In an effort to move away from the dog, he found that he had once again been chained to the wall, this time a thick, iron linked chain was wrapped around his neck. The dog was in the same situation, but she was still asleep. That thought stirred him. How long had he been asleep?  
  
"I see you've met Kiyo."  
  
Yahiko looked up with frightened eyes and at the captain that hovered over him. He looked young, maybe Kaoru's age, and he had deep black hair that spilled into his face, hanging over the emerald green eyes. He was of a fair build and wore a black gi over white pants, and carried a daisho at his side.  
  
"My name is Captain Shinomori Torou," he approached Yahiko slowly, watching in half amusement as the boy backed himself up until he was against the wall, his expression one of complete horror. The boy cried out loudly when he stumbled over himself, landing hard on his broken wrist. The captain knelt down, and seeing that Kiyo had roused herself, patted the dog on the head to calm her. "I am going to make you an offer, boy."  
  
Yahiko looked up, hoping that maybe the offer would include some sort of food or water. The captain took the expression as a response.  
  
"If you join my men, I will cease this torture... You will not be interrogated, you will be well fed and respected by everyone in this fortress..."  
  
Yahiko opened his mouth to agree, but closed it immediately. He remembered the dream he'd had the last time he'd slept, he remembered what Sanosuke had said to him. Don't ever give in to them, Yahiko. If you give in, then there's nothing that Kenshin or I can do for you.  
  
Yahiko looked away defiantly, putting his nose into the air to add the emphasis that he would do nothing that any of Shinomori's men asked him to. The gesture was met with the back of the captain's hand. "You know that the Battousai isn't coming for you, don't you, child?!"  
  
Yahiko did his best to ignore the angry captain, but found it hard when the steel toed boot made bone crushing contact with his ribcage.  
  
"If he cared a bit about you, he would have already come. Do you not realize this? It's need more than a month, boy, now come to your senses!"  
  
The boy winced at the words. Were they really true? The thought had passed through his mind many times when he'd been being whipped and beaten in his cell. If he really mattered to Kenshin, wouldn't he have come? Wouldn't he have saved him already? Yahiko dropped his head in shame, the thoughts racking his tired mind endlessly. If only he'd been more courteous when it was due. All he'd done to Kenshin, Kaoru, and Sanosuke since they'd first met was bicker and argue ceaselessly. He'd not shown any respect to them at all. Maybe his capture had been his fault in the first place--that was a logical thought. If he'd been paying more attention to his surroundings, he'd never have been caught in the first place.  
  
"That's right boy... Torture yourself. It's satisfying enough to see your self-torment. Then I don't have to get my own hands dirty."  
  
Yahiko felt his stomach churn at the words that Shinomori had said. rage boiled deep in the boy's soul, but he found that the only thing that he could do was speak. "You idiot..." Yahiko was surprised to hear his own voice. It'd been such a long time since he'd said anything more than a single word, and it had changed so much. His voice was low and raspy and filled with an uncontrollable anger. "You wouldn't touch me anyway--you would simply call your guards in and have them do it for you! I haven't even seen your ugly face walking around here monitoring your men!" his voice grew quiet and the deep intensity in it focused to a fine, sharp point. "You're more of a child than I am..."  
  
"Guards!"  
  
Four of the bulkier men that acted as the captain's bodyguards pelted into the room as though the place was on fire. And all Shinomori did was point once at the boy, and they practically pounced on him, pummeling him and kicking him like he was already dead. But Yahiko had become too used to it, the feeling of pain only lasted for a moment before his body went numb, leaving him helpless and weak, laying on the icy floor.  
  
"Take him away. Dispose of him in any way you deem necessary. He has been of no use to us anyway."  
  
Yahiko was dragged away almost immediately, the only pause in the beating when the link chain was undone from the wall. It would act as a leash, just as the rope from the mess hall had at least ten times before. The guards would yank on it at every chance they got, just to watch the boy fall and struggle to get back up as he was being dragged along the stone ground.  
  
The boy was led in the opposite direction than usual this time, and he knew to where. He was being taken to the courtyard--the circular garden that was in the center of the entire fortress. It was a dreary place, surrounded on all sides by the same drab, moss covered brick that made up the rest of the fortress. All of the plants that once lived there had died, their only remnants were a few patches of soil every few feet and maybe a dried leaf here or   
  
there. The grass had turned yellow and brown, and was thick and scratchy against Yahiko's bare feet. And even the ring of water that surrounded the once grassy area had dried up, bones of the dead fish that once had swam there laying in the six foot stone ditch. At least there was sunlight.  
  
Yahiko supposed that it was a suitable place to die, as depressing a thought as that may have been. He simply didn't care anymore. The thought of death was almost welcome to him--he was certain that Kenshin wasn't coming--that the dream of Sanosuke had simply been his mind running away with him in one last faulty effort at hope. He was now simply the nameless child that had been the object of countless beatings and interrogations, and he probably didn't even deserve do live. It was, after all, his own fault that he was in this   
  
mess in the first place.  
  
He barely felt himself being thrown down against the crumbling, dilapidated stone structure that sat in the middle of the courtyard, barely had enough energy to peer up and into the eyes of the guards that stood before him,   
  
weapons in hand. They had small guns, a sure sign that they were about to kill him. At least it would go fast.  
  
"Have you any last requests, boy?"  
  
Yahiko averted his eyes, but looked back up after a few moments of silence. He squinted against the sunlight and at the figures of the guards, who had seemed to be turned around. They seemed to be frightened.  
  
"Who are you?" The taller of the two guards demanded.  
  
"I've come for the boy."  
  
"I'll get this guy, you take care of the kid..." The guard nodded to his partner, who immediately turned and cocked his weapon.  
  
Yahiko felt his heart jump to his throat when he heard the shot, but the aim had been off by a long shot. The guard had been aiming for his heart--the bullet entered his left shoulder, just below his collarbone. The force of the blow threw him backward, but he remained conscious and in unbearable pain, seeing no more of the battle. All he could hear was a cry of pain and a loud thud--followed by a deafening silence.  
  
But that silence was broken shortly thereafter.  
  
"Sanosuke! Kaoru! In the courtyard!"  
  
Yahiko could hear the footsteps echoing down the long corridor, he felt a hand pressing against the bullet wound. He held in a cry of pain, reducing it to a slight whimper, followed by an instinctive grimace as he forced himself to pull away, despite the pain.  
  
"No... Yahiko, don't pull away..."  
  
The boy knew the voice. He forced his eyes open against the sunlight and peered through lashes at the silhouette that hovered above him. But his eyes had to be deceiving him.  
  
"Kenshin, is he all right?"  
  
It couldn't be. Kenshin wouldn't have waited so long to rescue him. But he looked so familiar, and the voices that accompanied him. The one that had just spoken--it was Kaoru.  
  
"I can't tell, Miss Kaoru."  
  
Kenshin reached down once again, making another attempt to put pressure on the bullet wound. Yahiko pulled back once again, opening his mouth to object to the touch. But he found himself unable to speak for reasons unknown to him, and he gave in to the touch, knowing that he was finally in good hands once again.  
  
* * *  
  
"Miss Megumi, how is he doing?"  
  
The black haired woman looked up from Yahiko's side with a worried nod. Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Kaoru hadn't been back for even two hours when Kaoru had come calling for her, saying that they'd finally found Yahiko. She almost wished that they wouldn't have found him.  
  
"He's not mortally wounded."  
  
Kaoru knelt next to Megumi and looked down at the dark haired boy. He had bandages all over his body, covering the unsightly wounds that he'd acquired after over a month of intense torture. She bit her lower lip, holding back the tears the same way that she'd had to do the first time she'd saw him, laying helplessly in Kenshin's arms, a bloody, bruised, half nude mess of a child. "What--kind of injuries then?"  
  
"Well, there is an obvious bullet wound. It would seem as though he's broken his left wrist. Judging by the horrible rope burns on his wrists and neck they had him bound incredibly tight. They must have dragged him by the ropes..." Megumi held up Yahiko's right hand, showing Kaoru the purplish marks that were all over Yahiko's wrists. There was even a spot on the back of his wrist where the skin had been cut open--it appeared to have bled rather badly. Megumi lowered his hand and continued. "A few broken ribs--those will be rather difficult to fix--he'll need to be in bed for a long while."  
  
"What's..." Kaoru pointed at a set of deep puncture wounds on his right arm. "That?"  
  
"It appears that they had dogs, Kaoru..." Megumi looked up at the distraught girl and for a moment, regarded her more than Yahiko. "Kaoru, don't trouble yourself any more. The only thing you should worry about now is rest. It will be a very long road to recovery for him--you'll want to tell that to Sanosuke and Kenshin. Tell them that they'll have to put up with him for a while, not to touch him unless absolutely necessary, to only speak to him quietly and calmly, never raising their voices. That's all I want you to worry about, all right?"  
  
"All right..." Kaoru stood and started from the room, but stopped herself when she reached the doorway. She turned back and looked over her shoulder. "Megumi?"  
  
"Yes, Kaoru?"  
  
"When he wakes up--" she paused for a moment. "Tell him to keep holding on..." 


	2. Preview

A.N: So, I'm sorry it's been a little while--but I was looking at this fanfiction, and realized that I used the same villain in this one and one that I started a while back. For that reason I decided that maybe, just maybe I'll try linking the two fanfictions together---I'm gonna start working on it tonight and tomorrow...but you know the deal--work...got my wisdom teeth pulled. So I'll give you a little taste of what's to come--see if you like it.  
  
A.N 2: mind you--lol...this fanfiction was originally started having nothing to do with the previous so--don't get madat me. I just want to see if you like where it's going/I'm only going to post the first few pages, without the fanfiction between them...if that makes any sense...rawr just read it...

denotes italics--a dream in this chapter .

Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin or anything else...I'm just a lone author with nothing good to do with her life.  
  
ProloguePrologue  
  
The rurouni stared fearlessly into the eyes of his attacker, a flash of white hot pain jolting him from his stomach. He looked down and his eyes widened as the blade that he'd seen the attacker draw earlier drove deeper into his torso, grinding against flesh and the bone of his lower ribs. Deep blue eyes peered back up, and without a single vocal sound, he drew his sakabatou and swung. The attack barely gave the assassin a chance to move away, pulling the sword with him as he went. Kenshin cringed as he felt his innards shift with the removal of the sharp blade.  
  
"Battousai," the bulky man sneered, an evil smirk forming on his thin lips, "the new revolutionary movement has come; you must be destroyed in order for Lord Shinomori to prosper!"  
  
"There is no revolution, there isn't," Kenshin replied calmly, regaining his composure. And with that said, he attacked with a lightning fast charge and slash--knocking his assailant unconscious and onto the cold ground.  
  
Kenshin resheathed his sword and peered up at the deep moonlit sky. It had to be at least two in the morning, judging by position, and he knew well that Kaoru would be up and waiting for him to get home. What a mouthful he would get.  
  
As the rurouni began his short trek home, the wound in his chest began to ache horribly, despite the pressure that he'd been putting on it himself. He was soon overwhelmed by a series of short but intense hot flashes that left him feeling as though his body had been burned alive. But he pressed on, knowing that at least Sanosuke would offer help if Kaoru was too angry. He pulled his thoughts back to himself as he approached the dojo, and looked ahead. Kaoru came running, as was expected, and she was followed by a worried Sano and Yahiko. The samurai gave a deep sigh and looked up at Kaoru, at first only seeing the obvious anger on her face, but then, as moments passed in silence, he saw her features change as she began to become worried as well.  
  
"Kenshin? What's wrong?" She inquired quietly, reaching her hand out to pull one of his pale hands from his chest, where his arms were crossed to hide his wound. "Where have you been?"  
  
But before Kenshin could answer, he felt another flash of heat, and another searing pain shot through his body. Unconcerned with the surrounding people, he allowed a short cry to erupt from his tiny frame, and fell forward, his knees buckling beneath him. Kaoru was barely able to react fast enough to catch him.  
  
"Kenshin!?" She called as she turned him onto his back in her arms. "Sanosuke, get over here and help me! Yahiko, go get the first aide kit!"  
  
"Ms. Kaoru, I am sorry," Kenshin began weakly, his voice shaky and uneven, his breathing heavy and labored. "I didn't mean to worry you--"  
  
Sanosuke knelt at Kenshin's left side and peeled the top of his gi away from the wound. The crimson, blood-stained cloth stuck to the wound where the blood had dried, and the smell of fresh fluid filled the air. He was still bleeding, heavily. "Kenshin," he began to speak slowly, shooting a glance up to the rurouni's pain stricken face, "you've got to stay awake. I can't help you if I don't know what happened."  
  
"...Didn't...mean to worry you..." The red-headed man groaned and closed his eyes.  
  
"Kenshin, I mean it, dammit! Stay awake!"  
  
The samurai's midnight eyes snapped back open, revealing terrified eyes that Sano and Kaoru both were surprised to see. "I am sorry... That I am..."  
  
"Stop apologizing, Kenshin," Kaoru interrupted. "just don't stop talking to me." She looked up to find a shocked Yahiko at Kenshin's right side, first aide kit in hand. "Yahiko, help Sanosuke, please."  
  
The black haired boy opened the aide kit and pulled from it a towel to begin wiping the blood from around the wound. "Sword?"  
  
"Yeah, but we don't know who did it." Sano replied as he laid his hands tenderly on the wound and pressed to stop the bleeding. "I think he's in shock--he wont say anything but 'I'm sorry," and "I didn't mean to worry you."  
  
"Blood loss?"  
  
"It's bad," Sano replied shortly. "Real bad." He looked up at a shocked Kaoru. "How is he up there?"  
  
"He's cold, and sweaty."  
  
"Get him inside. We'll be able to warm him that way," Yahiko suggested as he laid the cloth back in the small wooden box that contained the rest of the first aide materials.  
  
"Good idea," Kaoru agreed.  
  
Sanosuke nodded and scooped Kenshin into his arms, cradling him gently so as not to hurt the wound anymore. Keoru hurried in front of the two boys, holding the door open for both Yahiko and Sanosuke. In a rush, Sanosuke continued down the long hallway and into Kenshin's bedroom, laying him gently down on the futon that sat against the wall. "Kaoru, keep talking to him. Try to get him to come around. And Yahiko, you go get a bowl of warm water to clean the wound."  
  
"And you?" Yahiko retorted as he began toward the door.  
  
"I'm going to get Miss Megumi."

* * *

Megumi stood from Kenshin's side and turned to face Sanosuke, who was currently consoling a hysterical Kaoru. "He did suffer severe blood loss--" she began. "However, he isn't bleeding anymore, thanks to the efforts of both yourself and Yahiko. He's breathing more steadily now, he'll need to stay in bed for a while, though I'm not sure of an exact time frame yet."  
  
"I see. So he'll be all right?"  
  
"A bit shocked, but he should be fine within a few weeks. Keep him down and out of trouble for a while, away from fights of any kind at all."  
  
Kaoru looked up at Megumi and dried her eyes, letting the death grip that she held on Sanosuke's jacket loosen a bit. "What can I do to help?"  
  
"Baby him. Feed him in bed, don't make him get up for a while. He needs to rebuild his strength and blood supply."  
  
Sanosuke nodded and looked down at Kaoru. "See? I told you he'd be all right, Jou-chan."  
  
But before Kaoru could retort, there was a deep groan from the direction of Kenshin, followed by a rather abrupt cry. He began to become restless, breathing heavier and faster once again, mumbling a few words in his sleep.  
  
"Megumi, what's wrong with him?" Kaoru cried as she stood and began rushing toward Kenshin's side. She was halted abruptly as Sanosuke grabbed the back of her kimono, pulling her back down.  
  
"Leave him be for a while..."  
  
Megumi shook her head. "He is no doubt, dreaming. There's nothing you can do to he--"  
  
"I will never bow to such hell bent men as you!!!"  
  
Sanosuke jumped at the sudden outburst. He'd never known that such a small man as Kenshin could produce such a loud scream, not to mention that Kenshin had never before used such language in his presence. Kaoru bit her lip and put her hands to her mouth, tears filling her eyes once again. "Make him stop... He'll hurt himself if he keeps tossing like that!"  
  
Megumi nodded. "Sanosuke, help me hold him down, if you'd not mind."  
  
Sanosuke agreed and stood, rushing to Megumi's aide. He took the rurouni's feet while she gently held his shoulders to keep him from tossing too hard. The red head groaned at the touch, but remained quiet for the time. He reached his right hand out in front of him, palm toward the ceiling. "You will not harm her, or you will answer to me..." he began, his voice menacing.  
  
Kaoru stood and began toward the futon, hands folded in front of her. "Miss Megumi, that is the Battousai speaking... Not my Kenshin."  
  
"I know..."  
  
The Battousai's hand shot down to his left side, where his katana would normally be, but fell when he discovered that there was nothing there. He cried out and began to sit up, his strength even in sleep nearly stronger than Megumi's hold on him. "NO!"  
  
The burning street lamp was the only illumination in the moonless, starless night. The dancing flame cast an eerie glow against the tall buildings that surrounded the Battousai. In front of him stood a dark haired woman, a katana held to her throat. Her assailant was standing behind her, hand on the hilt of the sword, ready at any time to slit her fair throat.   
  
"You will not hurt the girl."  
  
"Then you will surrender yourself to me."  
  
"I will do no such thing."  
  
"Then watch her die!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
The bulky man began to pull the blade slowly across the woman's throat, the blood beginning to flow in a slight trickle onto her light kimono. But before the assassin could finish his ruthless killing, he himself was on the ground, blood pouring from his chest, where another katana had been thrust through him and pulled back out mercilessly. Without a chance to react, the assassin fell, dead, onto the ground.  
  
Kenshin watched as the shadowy figure that'd saved the woman's life sheathed his sword and tenderly scooped her into his arms. He slowly walked over to him, laying the girl at his feet. Red-brown eyes looked up into Kenshin's, and the boy stood straight, being only a few inches shorter than Sanosuke was, and he began to speak in a soft baritone voice. "She will be all right, I can assure you."  
  
"Who are you?" Kenshin inquired, "What is your name, and where are you from?"  
  
"It is not a matter of who I am, but when I am. You know the answers you want."  
  
Kenshin puzzled over this for a moment. He did not recognize the physical being or the voice, but there was something in the eyes that he knew. He was close to this person--but he didn't know any other manslayers. "I do not know what you are talking about. I do not know you, I have never met you, that I have not…"  
  
"You do not yet understand, Kenshin. You will make me what I am. You know me, you saved me, nine years ago."  
  
Kenshin was taken aback by the familiar use of his name. "I don't understand."  
  
"This is the future, Ken-san. With a new revolution comes a new generation of hitokiri. Follow your instincts... Or everything you know will be lost."  
  
Ken-san? Kenshin thought. He began to think of who the possibilities of this person were. It couldn't have been Sanosuke, he was a fist fighter, and the figure wasn't tall enough. And aside from that, if it was the future, Sanosuke would have aged at least a little... He was only 19 after all. But who else was there? There are only three people who call me that--Ms. Kaoru, Ms. Megumi, and... "Ya--"  
  
But before Kenshin could utter the name, the figure was gone as quickly and silently as he'd come, leaving nothing in his wake.  
  
"YAHIKO!" Kenshin shot up in the bed, startling the two women in the room. Kaoru rushed to his side, closely followed by Megumi.  
  
"Kenshin?"  
  
The rurouni looked over at Kaoru, a surprised expression on his face. He'd expected himself to still be in the setting of his dream, he'd been there for so long. "I'm sorry, Ms. Kaoru, that I am. It was a nightmare."  
  
Sanosuke rushed into the bedroom. "Fox girl, come here... The kid is freaking out..." he began. "He's talking in his sleep..."  
  
Kenshin gasped jumped from the futon and rushed out the door, shoving Sanosuke aside without regard. He continued down the hallway and in his attempt to stop at Yahiko's door, found himself sliding along the floor on his side after failing to stop and slipping on his socked feet. He crashed gracelessly into the wall at the end of the hallway. "Oroooooo..."  
  
"Kenshin! You shouldn't be out of bed!" Kaoru cried as she rushed to his aide. But Kenshin was too fast. He was already up and in Yahiko's room, absorbing the sight of the restless boy, listening to him speak about the hitokiri.  
  
"…Ken-san..." The boy paused and drew a sharp breath in, his mouth moving to unvoiced words. "...New generation of hitokiri... Follow your instincts... Or all will be lost..."  
  
The rurouni's jaw dropped as Yahiko fell silent, his heavy, fast breathing slowing a bit, every once in a while a gasp sending his tiny body into a short convulsion. He sat in silence, wondering how in the world they could have gotten into each other's dreams.   
  
"Kenshin, what's wrong?" Kaoru asked as she walked into Yahiko's and Sanosuke's bedroom, but she fell silent after seeing the look of concern and bewilderment on his face. It was an expression that she rarely saw. "Is he all right? Are you all right?"  
  
Yahiko woke with a start and inhaled sharply, his eyes wide and frightened. Kenshin held the boy up and comforted him as he began to cry, his uncontrollable sobs jerking his frame under Kenshin's tight grip. Kenshin pulled him to his wounded chest and quietly consoled him, telling him that it would be all right, not to cry anymore. But the boy couldn't bring himself to stop.  
  
"It would seem as though you two were sharing your dreams..." Megumi noted, remembering Kenshin's response to his own nightmare and the conversations that he'd said within. The two seemed to fit perfectly. "The poor boy is just shaken, Ms. Kaoru, he will be all right."  
  
"Yahiko," Kenshin whispered, his mouth close enough to the boy's ear for him to hear. "Calm down and tell me what you saw... I need to know what it was that frightened you."  
  
"I don't want to be..." The boy sniffled, trying as hard as he could to hold back his sobs. "...To be..." He couldn't finish his sentence, he was overwhelmed with tears before he could finish his thought.  
  
"A manslayer, Yahiko? Is that what you don't want to be?"  
  
The boy nodded and resumed his crying fit. "I don't want to... To see it anymore..." He began. "There was too much blood... And that poor woman--" his sentence was interrupted by an enormous sob. "Why did I kill him?! Why didn't you stop me..."  
  
"I didn't know it was you. I would have, Yahiko. But I didn't know, that I did not."  
  
Sanosuke chose that moment to approach the bed and wave the two women from the room. He knelt down by the bed on Kenshin's right side and put his hand on Yahiko's back. "It's okay, kid. If you need to cry then go ahead."

* * *

It was late in the evening now, Kenshin had spent the entirety of the day with Yahiko, who had still not gotten over the shock of his dream, even after Kenshin had spent many hours explaining what the dream meant. But now he was asleep on the Rurouni's lap, Kenshin himself drifting off into forgetful slumber even while laying against the uncomfortable wall on the floor. But he could not sleep, every time he was near to it, the shivering boy in his arms would jerk or sob, pulling him back to reality to console him.   
  
"Kenshin..."   
  
The rurouni looked up sleepily to the door, where Sanosuke stood. He nodded with a welcoming, but fake, smile. He was too exhausted to do anything else. "You may come in if you'd like, that you can."  
  
Sanosuke stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He took a seat on his futon and looked down at Kenshin. "What are you going to do then?"  
  
"I will most likely take him--I'll teach him what I know and can." Kenshin replied quietly, pulling the boy a bit closer to him after feeling him shiver. He looked down at Yahiko and closed his eyes. "If what that man and what Yahiko said himself about the revolution is true, and if the dream was truly a premonition, like Ms. Megumi said, then he will be another hitokiri of the Hiten Mitsurugi technique. You will stay here and protect Ms. Kaoru."  
  
Sanosuke nodded. "How long will it take?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Should I tell Ms. Kaoru?"  
  
Kenshin looked up. "No, if you please. I'd rather her not know what I'm going to have to do to him... If she knows she will worry."  
  
"You make it sound like you're going to murder him."  
  
The rurouni shook his head, his expression changing subtly to one of grief and guilt. "It will be worse." He looked up at Sanosuke. "When next you see him, he may not have any humanity left in him, if I am not extremely careful, that is. You see, one cannot master the Hiten Mitsurugi Style if he has any second thoughts about taking another person's life. I'm afraid that Yahiko may be the closest thing to Battousai since me myself, that I am."  
  
"When are you leaving?"  
  
"Tomorrow night. I should be well enough to make the trip to my old home."  
  
"Then take care, Kenshin."


	3. Announcement!

Hello to all. I've continued this fanfic in a new file... It's called Age of Revolution. Feel free to read it there.  
  
3 plot bunnies 3 reviews and I 3 u. 


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